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He’s a veteran of such flicks as Terminator and Aliens

Michael Biehn, left, who starred in blockbusters such as Navy SEALs, Aliens and The Terminator is in London this week filming for the movie Tapped, also starring Londoner Cody Hackman, a karate expert. (JOE BELANGER The London Free Press)

Don’t be surprised to see a familiar face in downtown London over the next few weeks.

Yes, that was Michael Biehn you walked past or saw having dinner, the Hollywood actor who had major roles in movies such as Navy SEALs with Charlie Sheen, Aliens with Sigourney Weaver and The Terminator with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Biehn is in London filming Tapped, a film that started shooting around town a couple of weeks ago.

It stars London karate expert Cody Hackman in a coming-of-age story about a wayward youth whose parents are killed in a carjacking. The youth turns to karate, where he finds a new family and life — only to discover one of his parents’ killers has become a highly-ranked mixed martial arts champion.

Biehn plays the role of the youth’s sensei, who oversees his karate training and personal evolution to a life of peace, not unlike the hit picture from 1984, The Karate Kid.

“This mixed-martial arts thing has really taken off and taken over the sports scene,” Biehn said in a brief interview between scenes.

“I really enjoy a lot of sports and it’s fun hanging out with a lot of highly skilled and highly trained athletes, guys who are at the top of their field. That’s an opportunity most people don’t get.”

It’s not Biehn’s first visit to Canada. He’s filmed in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver over a career that spans more than 30 years and 60 movies, the first being an uncredited role in Grease alongside John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

Along the way, Biehn has acted in a number of Hollywood’s great hits (The Abyss, Tombstone, should also be mentioned), with great actors (Weaver, Sheen, Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris in The Rock, and Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe in Tombstone) and directors, including the Oscar-winning James Cameron, who directed Aliens, Terminator, Terminator 2, The Abyss, Titanic and the recent Avatar, which probably had a place for Biehn, except . . .

“Yes, James and I talked, but when they brought Sigourney Weaver on board, he — rightfully so — thought the two of us would bring it too close to the Alien movies,” explained Biehn.

In London for less than 24 hours, Biehn was aready hard at work on location, where a large crew contingent worked to get the scenes, the sound, the make-up, lights and movements just right. But he was recognized at dinner Monday.

And although it was his first day on the set, Biehn was impressed with the mostly young crew and cast.

“Everybody knows what they are doing, they are all very nice — as all Canadians always are — and (Cody) he’s not your typical first-time actor. He envisioned a lot of this script and he’s worked on a movie set before. I think he’s really got a lot on the ball for such a young guy.“

Hackman, meanwhile, said it’s “surreal” to be on the set with the Hollywood stalwart.

“I grew up watching a lot of the movies he’s done, all the big franchise movies he starred in,” said Hackman, 25, whose short life has included owning his own karate club, which he sold to move to Los Angeles.

“I have all this martial-arts experience, but this is my first role and I get to watch him perform his craft. It’s just so effortless, the way he works. It’s just amazing to watch.”

Tapped is being shot primarily at downtown locations, which will eventually include the city’s old public library.

The movie includes several UFC fighters, including Polish-Canadian mixed-martial arts fighter Krzysztof Soszynski (who is in Here Comes The Boom, to be released in October) and Lyoto Machida.

There are more than 100 people involved in the production — excluding extras, who are being recruited — so it won’t be unusual for Londoners to see close to 60 people involved in scenes shot outdoors.

This is director Allan Ungar’s first feature film. He graduated from York University in 2011, but previously studied at the New York Film Academy as a teen.

Ungar says working with Biehn has been smooth.

“You’d think there would be a little intimidation there, but it’s been an absolute pleasure working with such a professional,” Ungar said of Biehn.

“I couldn’t be happier. He’s very friendly, just a pleasure to be around.”

Ungar says the film will cater to a wide audience — the younger crowd, because MMA fighting is the “world’s fastest-growing sport” and the older “retro” crowd who remember the coming-of-age movies from the ’80s and ’90s.

Said executive producer Dino Ciccone, who wants to see London develop into a movie-making hub: “It’s just a great story in a great genre. And we’ve got plans for a couple other movies in the works and the rights to a few ‘true-life’ stories as well.”